A wide variety of cargo and equipment, including helicopters, is airlifted via transport aircraft. The speed and ease of loading and discharging cargo and equipment is greatly influenced by its physical dimensions. For example, many helicopters are too tall to be simply rolled up and down the loading ramps of typical transport aircraft. Therefore, adjustments to the height of the helicopter are required to prevent damage to the helicopter and damage to the transport aircraft during helicopter loading and discharge. Many helicopters are provided with hydraulic shock struts which may be used to make the desired adjustments to the height of the helicopter by varying the hydraulic pressure in the shock struts. Other methods of varying the height of the helicopter may also be used such as pneumatic and electro-mechanical devices.
Typically, helicopters are loaded and unloaded by crews who make the required adjustments to the helicopter's overall height. Several crew members are required to monitor the position of the helicopter, and a winching system or pushing system is utilized to move the helicopter into and out of a cargo compartment. The helicopter is moved until observers determine that the minimum helicopter to obstruction clearance has been reached. The movement of the helicopter is then stopped, and its height is adjusted until all clearances are satisfactory. The cycle is repeated until the helicopter is fully loaded or unloaded from the transport aircraft cargo compartment. This loading procedure can be very time consuming, particularly if a large number of height adjustment are required.
Modern military requirements reduce the amount of time available for loading and discharging helicopters. This reduced time is caused by the speed by which the military is required to respond to various threat and emergency situations. Additionally, reductions in personnel numbers and training are being forced by the desire for efficiency and cost effectiveness. It is very challenging to satisfy all of these demands using existing technology for the loading or discharge of helicopters from a transport aircraft.